The ACT will not be offered for free this school year because of state budget issues. Families of juniors who want to take the test will be paying up to $52.20 for each test.

When the state budget expired in July, the state stopped paying for the free ACT test the district normally gave during standardized test days. With no budget resolution in sight, District 95 is recommending that all juniors register on their own for the test.

“[The test] is not only for college admission, it’s also used a lot in scholarships. If they [receive] a good score on their test, they could possibly get scholarships from the school or national scholarships. There’s also competitions they could win with certain grades so there’s quite a few reasons [to take the tests]. Plus, a lot of colleges use it for placement in classes,” Carl Krause, college counselor, said.

For the past 15 years, the state has provided a free ACT for students. The district’s only role was providing the tests for students, they were not financially involved. After the state spent $70.4 billion last year -more than each of its neighboring states, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin- the government decided funding for these tests was no longer a priority.

“I wish that the school would at least pay for one of them. It would take a little bit of the stress off because I already have to pay for college apps, and for all these other tests, too. I would say I’m kind of disappointed they took away the free one we have at school usually,” Nicole Jermak, junior, said.

The government has not made any new decisions in regards to a new budget. Until a larger budget is administered, District 95 students will be responsible for the cost of the test.